Theme: On a wing and a prayer ...
 |
| Wright Brothers first flight, December 17, 1903 |
Was our constructor, Rebecca Goldstein, inspired by yesterday's 122nd anniversary of the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina? Maybe! The theme answers in today's puzzle all involve wings. They are:
17-Across. Many an American employee: FLIGHT ATTENDANT. The American Airlines flight attendant uniform includes a metal pin in the shape of wings with the company logo at the center.
25-Across. List of pub grub: BAR MENU. A bar menu frequently includes chicken wings.
28-Across. Contest that starts with a center-ice faceoff: NHL GAME. The National Hockey League includes a team called the Detroit Red Wings that is celebrating its 100th anniversary in the 2025/26 season.
42-Across. Residential upgrades: HOME IMPROVEMENT. Upgrading your home? You might add a new wing.
55-Across. Red Bull slogan, and what can also be said of 17-, 25-, 28-, and 42-Across: GIVES YOU WIIINGS. Red Bull is an "energy drink" containing caffeine, taurine, glucuronolactone, B vitamins, and inositol. It is advertised as a performance enhancer. In 2013, a class-action lawsuit argued that the slogan "Red Bull gives you wings" and related marketing claims misled consumers into believing the drink provided benefits not found in a cup of coffee. The suit was settled for $13 million, and the slogan was changed to "Red Bull gives you WIIINGS" as if this is somehow more clearly metaphorical, and less a literal claim. Both the before and after slogans are news to this blogger.
So, 17-, 25-, 28-, and 42-Across GIVE YOU WINGS. Sort of, right? The flight attendant might give you a wings pin. The bar menu might give you chicken wings. An NHL game might serve up the Detroit Red Wings. And home improvements might give you (and your house) new wings.
At this point, we are flying high. On to the rest of the clues and answers!
Across:
5. Golf tops: POLOS. Golf courses often have dress codes requiring shirts with collars, so a polo shirt is a comfortable way to meet that standard.
10. Fury: RAGE.
14. Soul, in Spanish: ALMA.
15. "Alas and __!": ALACK. Alas and alack have the same meaning, and are doubled for effect.
16. Some Sharon Olds poems: ODES. Sharon Olds is an American poet who won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Raised by abusive parents in a strict religious environment, her poetry uses raw language to expose domestic and political violence. Odes is a 2016 collection of poetry in the form of odes addressing taboo subjects.
20. __ sauce: TARTAR.
21. Called: TERMED.
22. Brand of 5-Across: IZOD. Remember when this brand of polo shirts was all the 10-Across?
25. [Theme clue]
28. [Theme clue]
32. Skin soother: ALOE.
33. HS diploma equivalent: GED. General Educational Development is a set of exams that provide a certificate equivalent to a high school diploma.
35. "All over that": ON IT.
36. Wellness space: SPA.
37. Fruit also known as guanabana: SOURSOP. Soursop is the fruit of Annona muricata, a broadleaf evergreen tree. It is native to the tropical Americas and is widely propagated. With an aroma similar to pineapple, the flavor has been described as a combination of strawberries and apple with sour citrus notes, and a creamy texture reminiscent of banana.
 |
| Soursop fruit on the tree |
42. [Theme clue]
45. Director Lee: ANG.
46. Quick __ wink: AS A.
47. Escapade: LARK.
49. Chess greats, for short: GMS. Grandmasters. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain.
52. Indigenous Canadians: CREE.
55. [Theme clue]
59. Butter Restaurant chef/owner Guarnaschelli: ALEX. She's a Food Network star and Manhattan restaurateur.
 |
| Alex Guarnaschelli |
60. March follower: APRIL.
61. Sushi seaweed: NORI.
62. Pops: DADA.
63. Foul call, maybe: PRANK. A couple of my friends made "foul calls" when we were in middle school. A call to the corner drug store or liquor store: "Do you have Prince Albert in a can? You do? Well, let him out!" And a call to any random number: "Is your refrigerator running? It is? Well, you'd better go catch it!"
64. Scratched (out): EKED.
65. Con: SCAM.
66. Shoe bottoms: SOLES.
67. Simchat bat, for one: RITE. "Simchat bat" is Hebrew for "rejoicing over a daughter." This ritual welcomes a baby girl into the Jewish people, much as the "brit milah" (or "covenant of circumcision") welcomes a baby boy ... but with no surgery involved.
Down:
1. Absurd: DAFT. Just plain silly.
2. "First Lady of Song" Fitzgerald: ELLA.
3. Qatari commander: EMIR.
4. "The Entertainer" genre: RAGTIME. "The Entertainer" is a 1902 ragtime piece for piano written by Scott Joplin. It was popular as a piano roll for player pianos in the 1910s, and was first recorded by "the Blue Boys" in 1928, on mandolin and guitar. In 1973, it was the theme music for The Sting, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Ragtime was big from the 1890s to 1910s; its signature trait is a syncopated or "ragged" rhythm.
5. Source of financial aid: PATRON.
6. Rio greeting: OLA. "Hello" in Portuguese, the language of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
7. Muscle worked in dumbbell rows: LAT. Cruciverbalists call those large back muscles "latissimi dorsi," but gym rats call them lats.
8. Halloween mo.: OCT. An abbreviation in the clue suggests an abbreviation in the answer.
9. Comedy scene: SKETCH.
10. "Good 4 U" singer Olivia: RODRIGO. Olivia Rodrigo acted in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and then shifted into singing, which has earned her three Grammy awards. She was recognized as Time's Entertainer of the Year in 2021, Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2022, and ASCAP's Pop Music Songwriter of the Year in 2022 and 2024. Good 4 U was her second number-one song in 2021. This blogger is behind the times.
11. Driver of "Ferrari": ADAM. Adam Driver played Enzo Ferrari in the 2023 film.
 |
| Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, and as himself. |
13. Founded, as a co.: ESTD. "Established" can be abbreviated as EST, ESTD, or EST'D.
18. Skyline obscurer: HAZE.
19. Diane of "Law & Order: SVU": NEAL. Diane Neal played a New York assistant district attorney on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from 2003 to 2012. She had an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2018.
 |
| Diane Neal on SVU |
23. Excavated: DUG UP.
24. "In conclusion ... ": AND SO ...
25. Fun function: BASH.
26. Chewy brand: ALPO. Chewy is a pet supplies website. As far as I can tell, they don't offer the Alpo brand of pet food on their U.S. site, but they do offer it in Canada. Alpo does make a dog treat called Chew-eez, but again, it appears to be for the Canadian market. Is our constructor suggesting that Alpo is a particularly chewy brand of pet food? How would she know?
29. Price for hand delivery?: ANTE. The price you pay to be dealt a hand in a card game.
30. Bearing: MIEN.
31. Coup d'__: ÉTAT. French for "blow to the state," more or less. An illegal takeover of the government by sudden action.
34. Stumble or fumble: ERR.
37. Vanity pieces: SINKS. A bathroom vanity combines a sink, countertop, and storage cabinet.
38. "Srsly!?": OMG. Textspeak: Seriously? Oh my god!
39. Roe, e.g.: OVA.
40. "Raging Bull" Oscar nominee: PESCI. Raging Bull is a 1980 Martin Scorsese film about boxing champion Jake LaMotta. Joe Pesci plays Jake's brother, Joey LaMotta.
 |
| From Raging Bull: Joe Pesci is on the right |
43. Sound check?: EAR EXAM. Your blogger has an audiology appointment tomorrow.
44. Water boy?: MARINER. A mariner works aboard a boat or ship ... on the water.
47. Olive family shrub: LILAC. Lilacs and olives are members of the family Oleaceae. Other family members (of which there are 700!) include jasmine and forsythia.
48. Vegan brand owned by Estée Lauder: AVEDA.
49. Device on a snowboarder's helmet, maybe: GOPRO. A GoPro is a camera used to capture videos and photos in challenging situations. It is waterproof and shockproof, can stabilize images, and has versatile mounting options.
50. Wall flowers, perhaps: MURAL.
51. Pigs: SWINE.
53. Miso soup mushroom: ENOKI.
 |
| Enoki mushrooms |
55. Wanders (about): GADS.
56. Blathers on: YAPS.
57. Varieties: ILKS.
58. "Oh sure, take their __!": SIDE.
26 comments:
Another puzzle where
I didn’t understand the reveal at all.
Oh well, FIR anyway, so I’m happy.
That is, until NaomiZ explained it to me !
Good morning!
It was a tale of two puzzles. I enjoyed the top 2/3s, but the bottom 1/3 crushed me. Didn't know the chef's name, had DADs rather than DADA, GOPRO was (and still is) a mystery, hadn't heard of simchat bat -- sounds like a cricket implement. Sometimes you're the bug, and sometimes you're the windshield. (Have you noticed that bugs on the windshield are a thing from your ancient past?)
FIR, but named->TERMED, dads->DADA, ear test->EAR EXAM, and raps->YAPS.
I guess Polo didn't defend their copyright, so it's now generic? With Superbowl ads coming soon, we'll see things like "watch the big game on a new big screen TV from Walmart!" The NFL protects their intellectual properties vigorously.
Every NHL game has WINGS. Hockey teams play with a goaltender, two defensemen, and three forwards. The forwards consist of "centers," "left wingers," and "right wingers." Alex Ovechkin will play left wing tonight for the Washington Capitals against Toronto. Since he is the all-time goal scoring champion, maybe he could be said to play left WIIING!
I've sorta learned ADAM, NORI, and ALAK from doing crosswords. Butter Restaurant sounds like something you'd find at a state fair, but a name starting with "A" and ending with "X" is pretty easy fill.
I hope the Cornerites who put Rebecca on their "don't bother" list after Saturday's toughie gave her another chance today. I liked this one, and I've seen others from her I liked. So thanks, Rebecca, for the challenging grid. My favorites were "many American employees" for FLIGHT ATTENDANT, and "price for hand delivery" for ANTE. And thanks to NaomiZ for the fun tour. You should give hockey a look. Much faster than baseball and football, and they don't have the crybabies as does soccer.
I forgot to thank Rebecca for the abasement and NaomiZ for 'splainin' it all.
Did not know the Red Bull slogan and the triple i's got me. Had to Google the slogan.
FIR. The plethora of "i"s in the Red Bull slogan baffled me for a bit until Pesci showed up to straighten me out.
For a Thursday puzzle I found this harder than most, more Friday fare.
Last to fall was the SW. It took a couple of guesses to finally fill the void.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Took 7:32 today for me to wing it.
I didn't know the Actress of the Day (Neal), the cook (Alex), the vegan brand (aveda), simchat bat, or either name of the fruit. I had "dads" before "dada", and hesitated at "mien" and "etat" side-by-side.
I had the same thought as Jinx about the position "wings" rather than the Red Wings.
Jinx at 5:30 AM, many thanks for explaining the WINGS in every NHL game!
Jinx, Saturday's’ toughie was a Stella stumper, so Rebecca is in the clear! 😉
Good Morning:
I had no idea of the theme until seeing the reveal, a quote totally unfamiliar to me. The three “i”’s were confusing but a post-solve verified their correctness. (One of my pet peeves is the meaningless and inanity of so many current commercials, the Coach ads being at the top of my list.) I needed perps for Sour Sop and Aveda, but the rest of the fill was known or inferable, although it took me forever to remember Alex, a person I know very well from the Food Network.
Thanks, Rebecca, and thanks, Naomi, for a great review, the highlight being the pleasant reminder of The Sting’s great music and the special chemistry between Newman and Redford.
Have a great day.
A post-solve verification is what I meant to say.
Musings
-A clever late-week challenge with some “slightly off center” cluing and an obscure-to-me fruit
-This puzzle’s basement was a real test for me that eventually yielded
-I found a $188 golf POLO online by a company called FORME
-A chef crossing a vegan brand took an educated guess
-The area where I live is where the buffalo (bison) used to ROAM
-I can top you D-O, I first thought simchat bat at _ I T E was a Japanese fighting KITE
IM, thank you. I remember that I've tried some of Rebecca's puzzles that I didn't care for, but most I've liked (even when they were too tough for me.)
Oddly, the themers were the easiest to solve with just a few seeded letters. The theme itself feels clumsy to me, a "theme for the sake of having a theme."
FIR in 11:55, about three minutes longer for me than most Thursday puzzles. I found it to be mostly enjoyable, with the exceptions of Guanabana/SOURSOP, Butter Restaurant, and Simchat Bat.
Hi, Gang -
Just want to acknowledge the Anon at 4:04 a.m. yesterday who spotted theme that I completely missed. Well played, sir or madam, and thanks for the help.
Cool regards,
JzB
Nicely done puzzle. The three I's were perped in, so while I did do a double take, it did not require a triple take...
My only nose wrinkle, and it's strictly a personal one, is when a theme includes something only a sports fan would know. I may be becoming fanatical about crosswords, but I will never be fanatical about sports enough to know all the team names. However, thank you Jinx, for turning a nose wrinkle into a learning moment. Yes, wings in hockey, of course! Thanks again for the edification.
I knew about climate change, I mean, our very breath is warming the planet. (Not to mention other body emissions.) but Desper-Otto's (LOL spell checks Desperate-Otto's, nice try A.I.!) bugs on the windshield comment is a real learning moment! I mean, yes, I had noticed. But I thought it was a windshield tech thing... turns out, this really is a "thing."
I don't mean to bug you by being a Gadfly in the comments section, but I noticed roam, and then wander=Gad. I somehow dredged the answer up from the depths of memory. I don't know when or how Gad became associated with roam, but it is a valid thing...
silly theme link may influence dinner...
honorable mention
And, thank you all for these learning moments!
Ahhh. I got my new printer last night, and spent almost an hour setting it up this morning. First thing to print: the CW. I prefer ink-on-paper, although often hafta revert to online to get red-letter help. Today, got 'er done to FIR in 12 on paper. Lots of clever clues: 37D and 44D among them. 13 names (seemed like more) DNK 7. Also had no idea what a "Simchat bat" is. When "Rite" showed up via perps, still didn't know. Also DNK "Chess greats" are GMS. 28A started to fill HOCKEY then realized it is too short. NHLGAME appeared after a few perps. But I've mostly heard it called an NHL MATCH, not game. Anyway, a fun CW, thanx RG. And thanx too NaomiZ for the fun and educational write-up.
IMHO this was one of Rebecca's more enjoyable puzzles. As always, enjoy new words such as soursop.
My solve was pretty much like d-o’s, the top 2/3 filled quick, some pause in filling the bottom, but I managed a FIR in 21:06. Nice to see Rebecca’s byline on a weekday, she can be quite devious with a themeless. I figured the theme after the reveal perped, was not familiar with the Red Bull slogan, the only time I ever had Red Bull was in a Jaeger Bomb, and I can’t say I enjoyed it much, sickenenly sweet. Like Naomi, I equated the NHL themer to the Red Wings (life long fan of them) and not the position. Perps also needed for RODRIGO, ALEX, and SOURSOP 🤷♂️. Had to change eargasm to EAR EXAM, had dads instead of DADA. Thanks Rebecca for the challenging puzzle, and to NaomiZ for the explication.
*Chicken wing update*
I always check to make sure my links work, and was surprised I missed at the very end of the wing how to video, he mentions that these are his "pastrami" chicken wings!!!?
I thought I had tried all the ways. My fav is my neighbors Buffalo Wings that he makes with turkey legs, and death by hot sauce sauce... (he collects hot sauces, has a whole cupboard full of death sauces.) but "pastrami?"
more research was needed...
Note: the coriander powder he refers to is better known here as "Cumin."
The secret ingredient that makes Salsa taste South of the Border...
If he deep fried them like a man, he wouldn't have to worry about flippin' 'em. How are those baked wings gonna give me a heart attack?
Hola! So very late today because of doctor's appointment for my yearly checkup. I'm happy to report that or me, all is well in the health department.
As for the puzzle, I failed miserably. I had no idea about the Red Bull slogan and seeing triple I's was disconcerting. And now I understand why AVEDA is so expensive! There are other products just as good for less money.
Anyway, i enjoyed the top part of the puzzle. The clue for SINKS really made me chuckle. Thank you, Rebecca and NaomiZ. Have a great day, everyone!
Did not care for this one, tho FIR.
🤣🤣🤣 Jinx at 12:45 PM!
Slightly challenging but delightful Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Rebecca. And thank you too for your always helpful commentary, NaomiZ.
Oh dear, I don't believe that any POLOS (whatever they are) would put our DEER into a RAGE. Since I don't have any ODES to address this problem, I'd love to take our pets on a plane to my ALMA Mater--but, of course, the FLIGHT ATTENDANTS wouldn't allow that.
I'd better just stop off at a BAR and check out the MENU, and get them some ENOKI topped off with TARTAR sauce. An even better solution is to just get someone to come here and do some HOME IMPROVEMENT to make both me and my DEER more comfortable.
AND SO, we're done. Have a good day, everybody.
Post a Comment